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Early Eocene planktonic and benthic foraminifera from the Khangiran formation (northeast of Iran)

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Abstract

The Kopet-Dagh sedimentary basin is located in northeast of Iran and southeast of Turkmenistan in the Middle East. The Khangiran formation represents the last marine deposition in the Kopet-Dagh sedimentary basin. The early Eocene planktonic and benthic foraminifera from the Khangiran formation which belongs to the lower 376 m thickness of this formation are identified and biostratigraphically evaluated. Due to rarity of Morozovella species, planktonic foraminiferal zonation was difficult to determine in this formation. The determination of upper part of the late Paleocene for the lower 124 m of this formation is according to the lowest occurrence of Acarinina sibaiyaensis species. From E5 to near middle of E7 biozone, increasing trend of Acarinina frequency and a peak in Morozovella species and decreasing trend of frequency of Subbotina and Pseudohastigerina species indicate the warm and oligotrophic condition of the seawater during sedimentation of the studied interval. Toward the Ypresian-Lutetian boundary, the increasing trend of Pseudohastigerina and Subbotina species and decreasing in frequency of Acarinina species suggest the low-oxygen level, eutrophic and intermediate condition of the seawater. In this formation, the high abundance of the epifaunal taxa such as Anomalinoides spp., Cibicidoides spp., Gyroidinoides spp., and Lenticulina spp. from the base (late Paleocene sediments) up to E6 biozone reflects oligotrophic and oxic shallow water conditions. The occurrence of several peaks in abundance of Bulimina and Uvigerina species at the Ypresian/Lutetian boundary suggests eutrophic condition. These paleoecological conditions could be correlated with fluctuations in the numbers of the planktonic foraminifera.

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Acknowledgments

We are grateful to Mr. Savabi, Niazi, and Jahangiri for helping us in the sampling and to Ms. Hashemian for taking the scanning electron microscopy pictures in the Central Laboratory of Ferdowsi University of Mashhad in Iran. We are indebted to Prof. Anan (Al Azhar University-Gaza, Palestine) for his valuable suggestions that improved this manuscript. We also thank Dr. Luciani (Ferrara University, Italy) for the help with the identification of some of planktonic foraminiferal species.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Geology, Faculty of Science, Ferdowsi University of Mashhad, Mashhad, Iran

    Marzieh VahdatiRad & Mohammad Vahidinia

  2. Department of Geology, Faculty of Earth Science, Shahid Beheshti University, Tehran, Iran

    Abbas Sadeghi

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  1. Marzieh VahdatiRad
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  2. Mohammad Vahidinia
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Correspondence to Marzieh VahdatiRad.

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VahdatiRad, M., Vahidinia, M. & Sadeghi, A. Early Eocene planktonic and benthic foraminifera from the Khangiran formation (northeast of Iran). Arab J Geosci 9, 677 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12517-016-2711-4

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12517-016-2711-4

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